The invention pertains to a device of the type indicated in the introductory clause of claim 1. With this device, motor vehicle components with flat surfaces are to be fastened quickly and easily in openings in flat carrier components in such a way that, after the introduction of the insert, the fastening is not visible from the outside of the carrier and also so that the insert is fastened to the carrier with the least possible amount of play.
In the known device of this type (DE 195 33 655 C2), two different fastening means are required to fasten the insert in the carrier opening, one to press the first edge area of the insert against the first edge of the carrier and the other to press the second edge area against the second edge of the carrier in the fastened state. In addition to the pivoting lever, which presses the second, strip-like edge area of the insert against the second edge of the carrier, it was necessary to provide an additional pressing means in the opposite edge area of the insert. This additional pressing means had the job of fastening the carrier edge forming the boundary of the opening there to the insert. This pressing means consisted of elastic plates, which had to be produced separately and installed on a projection of the housing, the projection comprising a pivoting lever mechanism. In this known device, a dead-center spring is guided along a radial cam of a control piece seated on the shoulder and thus carries along with it the slotted arm of the pivotably supported lever. Upon completion of the fastening operation, the dead-center spring grips behind a projection of the radial cam and exerts a compressive force on the edge of the carrier present there. Removal of the insert from the carrier requires that the elastic plates in the area of the first carrier edge be removed first and that the dead-center spring then be lifted off the projection of the control piece in the second insert edge area. This is tedious and cumbersome.
A handle fastening in a motor vehicle door is also known from British Patent GB 1,508,858. Here the handle can be installed and removed quickly and easily. For this purpose, the handle, which is part of an insert, is inserted through the opening in the exterior door panel, after which shoulders on the rear of the insert are guided in succession through the opening. On the rear side of the opening, the two arms of a U-shaped clamp are slid in a direction parallel to the opening so that each arm arrives behind one of the previously mentioned shoulders, the insert part thus being held in position on the exterior door panel. This position is then made permanent by means of bolts. The disadvantage of this state of the art is that rattling noises can occur if the two shoulders are different distances away from the door panel or if the two clamping arms are of slightly different shape.
The invention is based on the task of developing a reliable device of the type indicated in the introductory clause of claim 1 which facilitates the fastening of the insert in, and, if necessary, the removal of the insert from, the opening in the carrier. This is accomplished according to the invention by the measures indicated in the characterizing clause of claim 1, to which the following special meaning belongs:
The invention makes use of a tensioning device to fasten the two edge area of the insert to the two edges forming the boundaries of the opening in the carrier in a manner which is essentially free of play. The tensioning device consists of two clamping strips, preferably connected to each other, which surround the waist of the shell-like housing. As the clamping strips approach each other, they are pressed into recesses provided in both sides of the housing and thus held in place. The final fastened state is made permanent by means of, for example, the fastening means which connect the clamping strips together. As a result of this fixation, pressure is applied between the two edge areas of the insert and the edges of the carrier forming the boundaries of the carrier opening, and this pressure can be maintained for as long as desired.
It is just as easy to remove the insert from the opening in the carrier as it is to install it.
To fasten the insert there is no need for separate fastening means between the two edge areas of the insert and the corresponding edges of the carrier.